


Détente

by epicycles



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awesome Ladies Being Awesome, F/F, Femslash, Missing Scene, awesome ladies kissing other awesome ladies, but no porn, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 10:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1119025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epicycles/pseuds/epicycles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pepper might actually owe Tony an apology: she can't stop looking down Natalie's blouse either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Détente

**Author's Note:**

> My take on how Pepper and Nat joined forces in Iron Man 2. Set after the birthday party but before Tony's visit to Pepper in her new office.

Pepper might actually owe Tony an apology: she can't stop looking down Natalie's blouse either.

It's almost impossible NOT to look. Natalie wears a lot of low-cut tops and revealingly tight dresses. She likes to lean over Pepper's shoulder when she's at her desk, which puts everything right at eye level. And yes, fine, Natalie is a beautiful woman and her tits are fantastic, okay? Pepper may be eighty-five percent straight -- seventy percent in college -- but it's hard to look away when they're right there in your face.

In the beginning, she'd thought Natalie had been trying to seduce Tony. Corporate espionage, maybe, or a plot by one of the enemies he'd been making as Iron Man. Then the disastrous birthday party happened and she'd started working for Pepper. She wore the same low necklines and spoke with the same purring voice, so Pepper had decided it was just how Natalie was -- sexy without even trying. 

Now she's pretty sure Natalie's trying to seduce _her_.

"Like what you see?" Natalie asks, in that perfectly sultry and perfectly innocent voice of hers.

Pepper yanks her eyes up from Natalie's chest to her face. "What?"

"The plans," Natalie says, looking down at the blueprints she was holding three millimeters below the deep vee of her cleavage. She looks back at Pepper, her voice and eyes giving nothing away but still somehow teasing, somehow inviting. "You approve?"

"Right. The plans. Tell them to designate more unisex bathrooms on the corporate levels and send them on to Tony to approve the labs and workspaces." She scrawls a signature on the tablet, only her steely professionalism keeping her pen steady as her hand brushes against the smooth skin of Natalie's arm.

"Will that be all, Ms. Potts?" Natalie asks, the generous curve of her hip leaning ever so slightly against the edge of Pepper's desk.

"What? Yes. Yes, thank you, Ms. Rushman," Pepper gives her a nice, neutral, press-conference smile and turns back to her laptop screen.

"Are you sure, Ms. Potts?" Natalie asks again in a lower, rougher voice.

Pepper keeps her eyes on her work for a good ten seconds before they betray her and dart back to Natalie. 

Natalie, who is now sitting on the edge of the desk, leaning on one arm, her hair curling over her shoulder, her legs lifted just enough to show off the delicate straps of her expensive shoes wrapping around her pale, perfect ankles. 

It was the shoes that did it, Pepper thought later. The shoes, and everything else.

"Is there something you need, Ms. Rushman?" Pepper asks, her own voice low to match Natalie's. She feels a little ridiculous, like a kid trying to imitate an older sister, but it must have worked because something more sly, more predatory, appears in Natalie's smile.

"I don't need anything from you, Ms. Potts," Natalie says. "But I want a lot of things."

Pepper swallows hard. Natalie's eyes are burning into her; the office feels far too confined and far too public at the same time. But Pepper suddenly realizes, she wants things too. A lot of things. Things she hasn't wanted for a long time, things she didn't have time to want during the years she's spent wrapped up in Tony Stark. 

She lets herself look at last. Her eyes slide up from those devastating shoes, past long legs, delicious hips, slim waist and generous breasts to elegant shoulders, a graceful neck and a face that always makes Pepper think of classical paintings. Natalie's eyes are so green.

She's looking back at Pepper, watching herself being watched, and her face isn't porcelain doll blank any more. Her eyes aren't unreadable now; Pepper can see a sparkle of mischief, a little pride at being admired, and a lot of want.

It's the want that makes up her mind, even more than the shoes. 

Pepper lifts a playful eyebrow, her heart pounding. "Are you trying to seduce me, Ms. Rushman?"

"So what if I am?" Natalie reaches out and uses the tip of one long finger to slowly close Pepper's laptop. With Tony that's an offense punishable by death, but Pepper doesn't stop her.

"I'd say you won't get any corporate secrets out of me," Pepper says. 

Natalie laughs. "I'm not after corporate secrets."

She comes around to Pepper's side of the desk, sliding to sit on the blotter next to the closed laptop. Her knees are level with Pepper's chest, and Pepper reaches out to stroke a cautious hand along one smooth white leg. "You know, when you first showed up, I was pretty sure you were a spy."

"And now?" Natalie purrs, still smiling.

"Now I'm sure of it." Pepper laughs. "The odd thing is, I don't think I care."

Natalie's smile fades a little, and she tilts her head. "You don't?"

"No. If you wanted to hurt Tony, physically or professionally, you've had a hundred chances. If you were trying to seduce him or pry out secrets, you'd be at the house right now. Tony already gave you access to basically all of Stark Industries weeks ago, and you already know I don't trust you. Seducing me won't get you anything, which is why I'm letting you do it."

Natalie blinks at her, then tosses her head back and laughs, real and throaty. "Oh, Ms. Potts, you really are amazing."

She leans down, cupping a hand to Pepper's cheek and kisses her. Pepper closes her eyes and wraps her hand around Natalie's ankle. Natalie kisses deep and genuine, and Pepper feels like she's peeling back layers, wiping away make-up, watching Natalie get more and more real.

Natalie breaks away with a smile. "I told them you were too smart."

Pepper should maybe be surprised at that, but she's not. "Told who?"

"I still need a few secrets, Ms. Potts. How else will I keep my air of mystery?"

"I should fire you."

"You should. But you won't." Natalie looks so smug, it should be irritating, but it's ridiculously sexy instead. 

Pepper musters a disapproving look anyway. "Won't I?"

"No. Like you said, I won't hurt Tony. Or you. If you fired me, someone worse might take my place. And you'd like me where you can keep an eye on me."

"All true. But I'd look pretty foolish with a spy for a personal assistant." Pepper sighs and drops her hand from Natalie's ankle. "I can sleep with you, but can I work with you?"

Natalie's smile dips. "Pepper. I can't tell you enough to make you trust me. I can't tell you who I work for, or what I'm doing here. But I'm not going to hurt you, or Tony, or anyone else. Or the company. I'm not here to steal anything, secrets or otherwise. You won't believe me, for good reason, but I'm here to help."

Pepper looks at her, looks into her eyes, but what's the use of it? If Natalie's a spy, she can certainly fake sincerity. But Pepper's always been an excellent judge of character -- Tony notwithstanding, or maybe Tony is Exhibit A -- and she feels like Natalie's a liar, but not about this. 

Natalie's gaze is steady, her eyes depthless and knowing and a little sad, and Pepper finds herself asking, "What's your real name?"

Natalie looks at her in silence for a long moment, then reaches out and lays her hand on Pepper's cheek as she quietly, carefully pronounces, "Natalia Alianovna Romanova."

"So you really are a Natalie?" Pepper feels a smile spreading on her face. "Natalia."

Natalie's smile is bright and almost girlish as she shakes her head. "Natasha."

"Natasha," Pepper rolls it around in her mouth. "Natash--"

She's interrupted by Natasha kissing her urgently. 

"Although--" "--if you do anything--" "--to hurt us--" "--I'll destroy you." Pepper manages between kisses. "And you know I can."

"Oh, I do," Natasha breathes, her eyes heavy-lidded, and Pepper laughs.

"I see, you only want me for my ruthless corporate power --" 

"Exactly," Natasha whispers into her mouth, before kissing her again. 

Pepper still isn't sure about firing her, but her body has already made up its mind about sleeping with her. One hand slides up Natasha's thigh and the other tangles in her hair, tilting Natasha's head as Pepper takes control of the kiss. Natasha inhales sharply in approval and opens to her easily.

Natasha's mouth is fresh and sweet -- she'd brushed her teeth before she came in, the scheming hussy -- but with a spice underneath that Pepper chases hungrily. She can't get enough though, the angle's all wrong, so Pepper stands up without breaking the kiss and shoves her ergonomic desk chair back to knock against the wall of windows behind her.

Windows, doors, right. She fumbles under the desktop and finds two buttons, pushes the larger one. There's a click as the windows behind her flash opaque and the office door locks. Natasha breaks away long enough to raise an eyebrow.

"Tony's office," Pepper explains. "Privacy button--" and Natasha rolls her eyes and hauls her back into the kiss. 

It all gets a little blurry after that, hands and mouths and skirts and skin and the hard surface of the desk beneath them, but somewhere in it Pepper thinks distinctly, she doesn't owe Tony an apology, she might actually owe him a thank you. A very smug, satisfied thank you.


End file.
